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You can’t start a republican debate with a monarchist plum farmer in deepest France

You can’t argue with a monarchist farmer native to a country who dispensed with its monarchy over two centuries ago

Robert Crampton

July 29 2013, 9:07pm, The Times

For much of July 29, 1981, I was on an aircraftto Seattle. The choice of departure date was not even a bit accidental — the 11-hour flight ensured that I would be able to avoid the Charles and Diana nuptials at St Paul’s. Which I did, fluffy meringue an’ all. Somehow, over the ensuing 32 years, I have managed to cope with the searing pain of failing to witness such an historic occasion. It hasn’t been easy, this process, especially once the evidence of the boundless marital bliss presaged by the ceremony began to emerge.

Back in 1981, when I took my turn at passport control at Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport, the strangest thing happened. In recent times, certainly since September 11, 2001, United States immigration…